And David said to the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?

The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!

How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain upon thy high places.

How are the mighty fallen, and the instruments of war perished!

And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was swift of foot, as one of the gazelles that are in the field.

And afterwards David heard it, and he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before Jehovah for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:

And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me: Jehovah reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness!

Then came all the tribes of Israel to David to Hebron, and spoke, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.

And these are the names of those that were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are on the earth.

When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

And now, Lord Jehovah, thou art that God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant;

And Urijah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.

And the shooters shot from upon the wall against thy servants; and some of the king's servants are dead, and thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also.

And now let not my lord the king take the thing to heart, to say, All the king's sons are dead; for Amnon only is dead.

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; and God has not taken away his life, but devises means that the banished one be not expelled from him.

And Absalom said to him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man to hear thee appointed by the king.

And there came one to David who reported saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.

And the king said to Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruits for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.

And the king said to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained to Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly bow myself: may I find favour in thy sight, my lord, O king.

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to thy father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art become odious with thy father; and the hands of all that are with thee shall be strong.

and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid; and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only;

And Hushai said, Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are of exasperated spirit, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

and even the valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a lion shall utterly melt; for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man, and they that are with him are valiant men.

And we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

And now send quickly, and tell David saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

And Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have gone over the brook of water. And they sought and could not find them, and returned to Jerusalem.

in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest those that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that neither princes nor servants are anything to thee: for to-day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died to-day, then it would have been right in thine eyes.

And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle; and now why are ye silent as to bringing the king back?

And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak to the elders of Judah saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, to his house.

Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone and my flesh; and why will ye be the last to bring back the king?

And Barzillai said to the king, How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to me; and why then are ye angry for this matter? have we eaten anything which came from the king, or has he given us any present?

And the afflicted people thou dost save; And thine eyes are upon the haughty, whom thou bringest down.

Now these are the last words of David: David the son of Jesse saith, And the man who was raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel saith,

But the sons of Belial are all of them as thorns thrust away, Because they cannot be taken with hands;

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Joseb-Bassebeth, Tachkemonite the chief of the captains: he was Adino the Eznite; he fought against eight hundred, slain by him at one time.

And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah; for his mercies are great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.

And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up that which is good in his sight: see, here are oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing-sledges and implements of the oxen for wood.